Kadient: Search Rebranding Leads to Greater Insights

We all put a lot of effort into our search strategies, and spend a lot of effort carefully optimizing around key words or phrases. The reality is, however, that buyers evolve over time, and so do the terms they use to connect with you. Kadient noticed this when a rebranding of their company gave them a reason to have another look at how buyers discover them, and how they looked for solutions to problems that Kadient was able to solve.


It's a great reminder to all of us to take a fresh look at how we appear to our prospective buyers and whether that corresponds with what they are searching for in their buying processes. Here's the case study from Digital Body Language:

Kadient: Search Rebranding Leads to Greater Insights

Kadient is a leading vendor of sales-knowledge, RFP, and proposal-generation software, using a free trial strategy that enables buyers to better experience the product’s value and positively compare Kadient to other possible solutions. In order to reflect their evolution from a niche, premise-based solution to a broader software-as-a-service solution, they undertook an ambitious rebranding from its prior name – Pragmatech. In doing so, they realized that a significant effort would be needed to ensure that the search engine optimization work they had put into the Pragmatech name would carry over to the new name and new URL. They ended up, however, realizing some much deeper insights into how their buyers found them.

As they optimized their search efforts to the new name, the Kadient team made careful observations of the digital body language of the prospect who found their way to their site and also the ways in which the broader universe sought information on sales challenges. Kadient quickly realized that they had been optimizing against terms such as “sales effectiveness”, which reflected their solution, but the broader market was seeking help with “sales coaching”.

Armed with this insight, the Kadient team realized that they could tap into a new opportunity. By explaining to prospective buyers, who were searching for “sales coaching” why they should think about the more than just a glib guy in a suit giving an inspirational session, Kadient was able to engage with a much broader audience and make them aware of the Kadient solution.

By analyzing the digital body language of its prospects, Kadient quickly identified a broad new opportunity for market awareness and education, and has begun to engage with buyers who may not have even initially realized that the problem they were wrestling with could be solved by a solution such as Kadient’s.

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Upcoming Challenges in Campaign Analysis

I was in a good discussion the other day about how to define the end date of a campaign that had social media elements. It's an interesting challenge as social media campaigns can have many effects that keep going for a significant length of time. If, in your analysis, you need to define an end date, it can be tricky.

Looking at campaigns that involve elements of social media, there are a few phases that can affect a campaign:

Initial Launch - the preliminary efforts to get the marketing effort noticed and known in the social media scene. This will drive a number of the initial responses, although the timeframe is usually contained.

Viral Forwarding - any campaign with a successful element of social media contains content that is found interesting enough to be passed on and discussed online in forums such as Twitter. This can be the most significant element of the response in some successful campaigns. It is often contained in time though, so it does not cause as many analysis challenges as the next few elements.

Blog Commentary - here's where it gets interesting. Blog links, articles, and comments may refer to the campaign for an extended period of time. If the content remains relevant, the blog commentary can last months if not years.

SEO Effects - extending that effect is the effect of search engine optimization. As blogs comment on the initial marketing effort, search results continue to improve. This effect of course, again lasts months if not years.

Ghosts of Google - confounding any challenges of defining when a campaign ends is the fact that the algorithms of Google and other search engines have a way of resurrecting content that may be years out of date, which, with good content, can lead to a new trickle of interest in the campaign.

Given these challenges, how does one define the end point of a campaign? Is the concept of a campaign really having a defined "end date" still meaningful in today's world? I'm interested in your thoughts on this topic.

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First blood

The title is reminiscent of the movie I just finished watching - RAMBO...first blood part 2. Why don't they just call it second blood?

But I digress...

What I wanted to say is that I finally caught up on all the posts I've been delinquent on for the past few weeks. I've been working like a crazy lady and just came up from air this past week and got all caught up.

We did have a sad occurance last night that just broke my heart. Bella whacked her mouth with a toy and it started bleeding...and bleeding and bleeding. It was awful. I was quite stricken by my baby girl's mouth with blood in it...and my heart just hurt for her...she, of course, cried a little then was fine...it took her mama just a little longer to feel better.

Tomorrow is her 4 month well baby checkup and 4 month vaccinations. I'm already stressed about it...Those shots cause me great anxiety...I can make it through...I can make it through.

Oh yeah...and have I mentioned that the movers come in EIGHT DAYS?! Read More...

Visit from the Inlaws...

This past weekend we had the pleasure of John's mom (Bobbi), dad (Bop) and great grandpa Mike here for a visit. We were really excited that they were able to come and stay with us. We spent a lot of time just hanging out and talking...took them on a trip to see a few things and just enjoyed their company.

John graduated the day after they arrived...we all got to attend his graduation ceremony. I am so proud of him. We're all so proud of him.


Note the inscription...US Army Intelligence Center - Through this gate pass the leaders of Military Intelligence.


Three generations of soldiers - all Veterans - World War II, Vietnam and the Gulf War


Bella got the chance to meet her great grandpa Mike for the first time! He pushed her around the grocery store for me and kept her entertained.


I think he's smitten...


Bella's cousin Josh sent her "baby handcuffs." We had to take a picture of Bella in her jailbird attire. :)


On the top of Montezuma's pass where Coronado passed through AZ from Mexico


Ready to be OUT of this carseat.


Practicing my bite on Bop's knuckles...


Bop and I had matching morning hair!


I love my Bobbi!
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MOM

We decorated t-shirts while Katie was here...



I particularly love this shot. Both of them with MOM "tattoos" on the sleeve of their shirts.
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Cousin Katie came to visit

Cousin Katie came to visit during her spring break from school. She was such a big help with Bella and we had such a good time while she was here...

My favorite 7 year old Katie-ism from this trip came when she realized there were no brothers and sisters for her to play with...just old auntie anna and uncle john...

"Its no fun being an only child unless you want to play video games."

I think she had a great time anyway...









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Blessing day...

Well, March 15th was Bella's blessing day up in Phoenix. She looked just beautiful and Uncle Ray did a great job. She only cried a little bit and then quieted right down. We took a few pictures to commemorate this wonderful special occasion for her...









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Bella is 4 months old!

Bella turned 4 months old on March 13th...just a few pics of her 4 month birthday...

Hanging out in mama and daddy's bed...with ALL my toys


I chew on EVERYTHING now because I'm teething!


A bouncer that I get to sit upright in....I'm not too sure about these toys on this thing though...





I had AWESOME bed head that day after my morning nap and before my bathtub...

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Lead Scoring - Thinking of Outputs First

I was on a webinar with Todd Davison of BullDog solutions the other day, and he had a great way of showing the outputs of lead scoring that I wanted to share as it gives a great conceptual model for how to think about lead scoring and what to do with the scored leads.

Todd used a 2x2 matrix to talk about lead scoring from the perspective of outputs. What you want to do with the leads once you have understood who they are.

For the leads that had a good ability to purchase (the "who"), AND a strong intent to purchase (the "how interested"), that's easy, those are sales ready. However, it's the other three corners of the 2x2 that get interesting.

Prospects with a good ability to purchase (the right "who"), but no displayed interest, should be nurtured. These are the execs who are in the right industry and could purchase, but are not showing interest yet.

For those with the right intent to purchase (the "how interested"), these are the keen interns; great interest, but not able to execute a purchase. These can be very valuable guides to an account, and can help you qualify and account and explore for other potential buyers with more decision-making abilities.

In the lower left corner, the individuals with neither a current interest, nor a current ability to purchase, are longer term candidates. Over time, with nurturing and thought leadership content, you can either build their interest enough to move them up the 2x2, or learn more about their role enough to qualify them to move to the right on the matrix.

Lead scoring is all about deciding on the next course of action with that lead, and by defining that output first, it clarifies some of the thinking about how you might want to score your leads.

The webinar with Todd is here (registration required) if you're interested, and it digs into a lot of topics related to scoring leads, nurturing, and understanding digital body language:
http://www.bulldogsolutions.com/bulldogma/frmRegistration.aspx?aid=60&bdls=18499


This question is one of 8 critical lead scoring questions to consider when thinking about a lead scoring system. Read More...

76ers: Multi-Channel Campaign To Win Back Season Ticket Holders

Last week's case study was on Bella Pictures use of direct mail as part of their nurturing campaigns. Multi-channel campaigns give us some interesting options as they open up new angles of communication and, when well coordinated, reinforce messages we've seen in other channels.

I greatly enjoyed chatting with Mark Di Maurizio and the team running marketing for the Philadelphia 76ers as they market a product with a great emotional tie - the basketball team. They used a multi-channel campaign to enhance the emotional tie their fans had with the team and drive renewals. Here's the case study from Digital Body Language:

76ers: Multi-Channel Campaign To Win Back Season Ticket Holders


The purchase of seasons tickets for the Philadelphia 76ers is a purchase decision driven by the excitement and emotion that a basketball team brings its fans. It is also a purchase decision that involves a significant financial outlay, however, so the 76ers marketing team needed to ensure that they made the right emotional connections as they communicated with their audience.

A campaign to reconnect with past season ticket holders who had not renewed was initiated. A multi-channel campaign brought the excitement of the basketball experience to the target audience. First, a direct mail piece and a postcard were sent, inviting the recipients to a Select-A-Seat event. A follow-up email campaign shared the creative of the direct mail pieces, and both media types provided a personal URL (PURL) to each recipient that provided highly personalized content and introduced the recipient to their sales representative.

An outbound IVR-based phone campaign recorded by the 76ers president and general manager Ed Stefanski again invited recipients to the Select-A-Seat campaign. At each step, an option to jump straight to purchasing tickets was provided, and for those who showed interest by interacting with the marketing campaign, but either did not attend or did not purchase, the sales team followed up with directly.

The campaign was a great success, with numerous people rejoining the Sixers family as season ticket holders. The resulting revenue generated was more than 35 times the cost of the campaign. By using a variety of media types to bring the emotional experience of basketball into a marketing campaign, the 76ers were able to better connect with their audience.

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Lead Scoring vs Time - Degrading Scores Gracefully

Most buyer activities are only relevant for a certain amount of time when you are looking at scoring leads. This is a very relevant factor to build into your lead scoring algorithms or you will find that scores continue to increase over time with mild activity. Obviously, that is not reflective of what you are trying to accomplish in most cases.

The simplest way to build time into your lead scoring algorithms is to layer together a few time frames of scoring. For example, you may be looking at something like email response, and you want recent responses to score higher than older responses, while very old responses add no score at all.

To do this, you might build two timeframes for scoring, one over six months, one over twelve months, each giving ten points of score for a response. These timeframes would naturally degrade the score over time. For example, as shown in the diagram, the email response three months ago receives 20 points, the email response nine months ago receives 10 points, and the email response 15 months ago receives 0 points.

Of course, in doing this, be sure to think through the "caps" of scoring that you apply to each bucket as discussed earlier.

This question is one of 8 critical lead scoring questions to consider when thinking about a lead scoring system. Read More...

Golf, Putting, Sales Reps, and Growing Revenue

My golf game needs improvement, I can admit that. However the one thing I have noticed is that every time I do manage to get the ball into the cup, it’s when I’m using my putter. The obvious conclusion then is that I should spend all of my effort working on my putting game in order to improve at golf, because that’s what gets the ball into the cup.

Well, no. That’s obviously a flawed conclusion.

It’s odd then that so many CEOs associate growing revenue with hiring sales reps. Yes, it is the sales rep who gets the deal done, but that is at the end of a long process that involves building awareness, establishing thought leadership, nurturing leads throughout a long buying process, scoring leads based on interest, and routing those leads to the right sales rep.

Investing in more sales reps is like working on your putting game. Certainly important, but only part of the picture. We all know that being able to start with a good drive, play the fairway well, and stay out of (or get out of) sand traps is an equally important part of the game. We know it, in golf, because we can clearly see how these move the ball towards the green.

In B2B marketing, however, it is not quite as obvious.

We all understand that buyers progress through their own buying cycle, and in doing so are guided by the information that we as marketers provide for them. However, unless we have mapped that buying cycle, and used an understanding of the buyers’ digital body language to determine who is at what stage of the buying process, it becomes hard to see where in the buying process we need to apply effort in order to improve our overall ability to grow revenue.

Terracotta did a great job of mapping their buying process (see their case study here), and by doing so, were able to understand which of their buyers were at which stage of the process. Doing this, in any B2B buying cycle allows us to see where our strengths are and where our weaknesses are. With this insight, we can then see where we would be best to focus our efforts.

Our ability to grow revenue is based on many factors, of which the number of sales reps is just one. Understanding our buyers’ overall buying process gives us the insight we need in order to understand where we need to invest for maximum results, much like watching our entire golf game allows us to understand whether to work on our putting, our drive, or our short game. Read More...

Bella Pictures: Direct Mail in Nurture Marketing

The marketing team at Bella Pictures is one of the most interesting and innovative groups I've had the pleasure to work with. I ended up adding two Bella case studies to Digital Body Language because of the interesting work they were doing. In the first of those case studies I'll share here on this blog, Teresa Almaraz and her team used direct mail - post cards - as part of a drip nurture campaign. Usually reserved for bulk, outbound, large list campaigns, direct mail worked extremely well as part of a nurturing campaign timed around the bride's wedding date.

By taking advantage of the fact that print on demand providers were able to deliver direct mail in an on-demand way, Teresa and the team at Bella were able to use the media type in an unexpected way, with great effect. I hope you enjoy the case study:

Bella Pictures: Direct Mail in Nurture Marketing

As the premier provider of wedding photography in the United States, Bella Pictures deals with a very defined prospect audience: recently engaged brides-to-be. The sales cycle itself involves an equally well-structured timeframe as anyone who has been involved with the planning of a wedding can attest. To maximize its success, Bella guides brides through photography selection using a carefully crafted nurture program that starts with the first contact with the bride.

One of the key conversion points for brides-to-be was the initial meeting with a photographer to discuss her photographic preferences. In the hectic process of planning a wedding, a meeting with a photographer could easily be forgotten, or the bride could show up without having thought through the questions she would be asked, such as the type of photography, styles, album choices, and special shots to request.

To resolve this challenge in the process, Bella Pictures turned to direct mail. A postcard was sent to each bride, targeted to arrive just days before her scheduled meeting date. The direct-mail piece served three purposes. First, it reminded the bride of her upcoming meeting, with her meeting. Second, it presents a tangible, high-quality piece to the bride to impress on the bride the aspects of photographic quality that are likely to be important. And third, the direct-mail piece provided a checklist for the bride to work from, ensuring that she had considered all the key photography decisions she would have to make.

In a sequence timed around the bride’s wedding date, the nurture process guides the bride through the timelines and decisions needed. By orienting its marketing process around the bride and her decision process, Bella significantly lifts its conversion rate from initial contact to booked appointments. Even with direct mail, which is typically not viewed as a drip/nurture marketing vehicle, Bella aligns with the bride’s buying process.

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Lead Scoring - Caps and Buckets

The first step of any lead scoring initiative is careful planning of what you want to score and how you want to score it. This is essentially the "question" you are asking that the lead scoring algorithm will be able to answer. For example, understanding who a buyer is vs how interested that buyer is at this moment in time are very different questions. That would require two dimensions of scoring, one for explicit (who) and one for implicit (how interested).


Once you have settled on a dimension to look at, the next thing to think through is the "buckets" of information within that dimension. For example, if we are understanding how interested a person is, we may want to look at whether they responded to email campaigns, whether they attended events and whether they downloaded trial versions of your product.

However, the thing to consider in looking at each of these "buckets" is where to cap the score within each bucket. For example, if viewing a whitepaper is worth 3 points, is viewing 5 whitepapers worth 15 points? Is viewing 10 worth 30? Most times, the answer is no, and setting up the appropriate cap in your lead scoring system allows you to avoid having scores that are non-sensical because of this type of prospect action.

If, instead, you define a maximum score for whitepapers of 10 points, a prospect will not exceed 10 points regardless of how many whitepapers he or she views. Other points would have to come from other activities, giving a more balanced view of prospect interest.

This question is one of 8 critical lead scoring questions to consider when thinking about a lead scoring system. Read More...

Employees, Social Media, and Superstar Economics

I was watching a great video from 1981 the other day talking about how, in the future, it might be possible (albeit absurd) to get the content of a newspaper on your computer. You could tell from the tone of the announcer that this concept was patently absurd to her. Who would ever do that?

So that got me thinking about what we might look back on in 20 or 30 years and laugh at ourselves for thinking it was absurd.

Here’s one thought – what if Marketing begins to recruit and acquire employees who have established their domain expertise via all the tools within the social media realm, in the same way that sports teams recruit and acquire all star players?

It may not be as absurd as it at first seems.

Business has begun to realize that the way buyers gather information has fundamentally changed. Credible online sources are of critical importance in market awareness, education, and solution validation. Increasingly, this information is created, disseminated, and validated by the key online personalities in each space. In wine, a comment from Gary Vaynerchuk has an effect on wine sales, Michael Arrington’s opinion on a new technology product can be a make-or-break moment for a small company. David Armano wrote a great post the other day discussing the overlap between personal and corporate brands with Ford's Scott Monty as a case example.

So, as a marketer, influencing these influencers is critical. The public is smart enough to see through paid endorsements, but other options are possible. Microsoft hired Robert Scoble, Panasonic invited Chris Brogan, Greg Verdino, and others to CES as guests.

The initial reaction is that employment will impact their impartiality, and their audience will reject them. But will that actually happen? There’s reason to believe that it won’t. Converting an independent opinion into a paid advertisement is destructive to both parties. The blogger will lose their audience, which is their most critical asset, so they are motivated to avoid appearing biased at all costs. The sponsoring company would then lose the main reason they hired that blogger in the first place. Rather than a paid advertisement, the best approach is to add new perspectives, highlight ideas and evaluation frameworks that may not be obvious at first glance, and raise awareness that a product exists.

I mentioned the economics of all-stars in sports, which is very different to how marketing salaries are today. I think again, there is an argument to be made that this is actually a reasonable thing to expect. In sports, the pay for the best athletes is many times that of the very good athletes. In social media, the audience sizes, and hence the influence, of the biggest names is many times that of the somewhat big names. This means that hiring the best name in the space might be many times more effective than hiring the second best name in the space. Economics will follow, and the best names will be able to charge rates that are many times the rates of the second best names.

So why not build your own social media presence? Again, the preferential attachment situation comes up. If you are starting now, and there is a social media leader in your space, you may never catch up. All else being equal, having more followers leads to having even more followers.

The need for impartiality also leads to an interesting side effect – the key names in the space will naturally be able to act as free agents. As long as they are within the space their audience cares about, there is no fundamental reason for them not to be able to shift from one employer to another.

So how much will they be worth? That will depend. In the same way that the superstars in sports make differing amounts of money depending on the popularity of the sport, the superstars in social media will make differing amounts of money depending on the size of the audience in their particular specialty. Read More...

Bella giggled and got a new sweater.

Oh! That title is terrible English. She didn't giggle and get a new sweater because of the giggle. Actually, she giggled today for the FIRST time. I ran around like a crazy lady looking for the camera and never found it, but John and I both witnessed the cuteness of her first little laugh.

Part two is really just a thing all on its own. My dear friend Homero is the king of knitting. He knows more about knitting than I do about New Kids on the Block. I know...thats SERIOUS knitting. And when he knits...he knits the most amazing things.

LOOK what we got in the mail the other day! It fits her perfectly and I can't wait to have her wear it out on the town!

Hey! I know I look a little wide-eyed, but check out my new duds!


What IS that thing pointed in my face? Let me grasp at the safety of mama's fingers!


Hello metal shiny thing. I'm Bella. Whats your name?


My new "thing" is sucking on my bottom lip. Cute aren't I?


I just wanted to try out a new facial expression!
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Operation Find Mr. Whipple

Operation Find Mr. Whipple
Objective: Squeeze the Sharmin

I found the photo above and it brought back a story that I don't tell many people because really, its quite unbelievable. This is a dating story about how meeting a guy can end with 5 friends dressed in military uniforms with real guns (no ammo) running around Washington DC.

I admit that the dating story is mine...and while I'd like to be able to say that I had a normal dating life. I have to admit that mine has been anything but normal...in the usual dictionary meaning of that word.

It all started when I met Colin Sharmin. On first glances he seemed quite (again comes that word) normal. We had much in common...went to the same church, had many of the same friends, liked much of the same stuff, ran in similar circles...

**Enter psycho parading as normal man.** .

**Cue innocent gullible me.**

"Oh Colin! What has happened to your eye?" A giant white bandage covered his right eye. Yes, it had been too hard for him to tell me this when we first met...Colin had a brain tumor. He'd just been operated on.

Ok...so writing this out I think to myself, "Anybody should know that you don't recover from brain tumor surgery over the weekend...DUH"

But, little innocent gullible me doesn't think that at all...no! In fact, over the next two months I got bits and pieces of the incredible life that belongs to Colin Sharmin.

**note...in my defense...he is the master manipulator and eeked out the following in bits and pieces not all in one big lump so if it seems that I was OVERLY gullible please give me a few extra points! I mean, c'mon folks...HE CRIED REAL TEARS!**

1. Colin was once married to a woman named Colleen and she was killed by a taxi driver that was high on some drug or another. He had prepared a lavish dinner complete with rose petals and stood at the window watching as she was hit. He rushed to her side and she died in his arms.

Colin and I took flowers to Colleen's grave on the anniversary of her death. I stood back respectfully as he took a few minutes at his deceased wife's grave.

2. Colin speaks 5 languages.

3. Colin went to MIT and UVA.

4. Colin is the heir to the Charmin throne (yes, we're talking about the "Squeeze the Charmin" toilet paper throne.) When I asked about the difference in the spelling of the name - charmin vs sharmin - I was told that his great grandfather had changed it on the product because it looked better when written that way.

5. Colin had a sister that he tried to set up with my cousin. (he actually didn't have a sister at all and pretended to be her while communicating electronically with my cousin - FREAKY.)

6. Did I mention he had a brain tumor? Oh, and he even asked my sister to change the dressings for him one day - which she did. And thinking about that now makes me laugh, but really, we were so sad for him.

I could go on and on about even the most mundane daily items, work, home, cars, clothes, what he ate for breakfast....the more I got to know him the more lies or half truths I would catch him in about the stupidest stuff.

He knew I was catching on. So, he introduced new drama. An ex-girlfriend that was still in love with him. Suddenly, someone I didn't know...knew all about me and blamed me for ruining her life. Had I known then what I knew now I would have tossed him at her with a hearty, "he's all yours!"

Finally, the stories were just too fantastic...My roommates and I decided to learn the truth. We searched school alumni records, placed a few phone calls and then the fatal blow...

"Virginia Vital Records" said the sweetest old lady voice I had ever heard.

"Hello, ma'am," I said, "I'm trying to find a death certificate for Colleen Sharmin."

She asked me if I was family. I explained that I wasn't, but went on to tell her exactly why I was looking for it.

"What the name and the date of death, dear?" she asked. I gave her the information and she said,

"I can't tell you if there was anyone by that name that had died under those circumstances you explained to me dear. Thats against the law. However, I'd like to give you a little dating advice. You just go ahead and run away now dear. Don't look back and get a restraining order if you have to. You understand me, don't you dear?"

I PUT FLOWERS ON A NON-EXISTANT DEAD WIFE'S GRAVE?

Come to find out...the ex girlfriend knew all about this compulsive liars issues and thought it was "charming." Actually, once I asked around a little...just about everyone who really knew him told me about his little problem with lies...I think someone even said they would have clued me in sooner, but they thought I knew all about it. GAAAAAAH.

And so Operation Find Mr. Whipple began. Somewhere is a videotape of the whole thing. We had a great time releasing the stress of all that craziness that had invaded our lives. And in the end...Mr. Sharmin got squeezed alright. Read More...

TriNet: Sweet Music - Targeting of Purchase-Ready Buyers

I talk a lot about using lead scoring to understand what stage a prospect is in their own buying process. I also talk quite a bit about analyzing the value of inquiries vs the value of qualified leads. It was great talking with Ian Brown and team at TriNet during the writing of Digital Body Language, as they done a great job of this style of very precise targeting. By understanding first who was at which stage of the buying process, and second, what the value was of moving those specific prospects to the next step, TriNet was able to offer a significant incentive. By using that level of buy cycle segmentation, they succeeded in creating a creating a very effective campaign.

Enjoy the case study:

TriNet: Sweet Music – Targeting of Purchase Ready
Buyers

TriNet (http://www.trinet.com/), a leading provider of HR outsourcing services for small and medium-sized businesses, found that a face to face meeting with a sales consultant was a key step needed to push decision-making executives over the goal line. It built a strong base of thought leadership through several nurture campaigns, but wanted to motivate purchase-ready prospects to take the plunge.

To do this, TriNet devised a campaign with the call to action being a meeting with a TriNet salesperson - a significant commitment of time for any busy executive. The personal incentive: a free MP3 music player just before the upcoming holiday season.
This large incentive, combined with the call to action, meant that TriNet needed to ensure its targeting was accurate. Otherwise, it risked wasting money on a large number of respondents taking meetings simply for the free MP3 player. The real targets: decision makers who had previously engaged with TriNet but had NOT taken a meeting with a sales consultant.

To build that list of targets, TriNet turned to its database of prospects who had been nurtured with thought leadership campaigns. By segmenting on title, industry, and employee size, the ideal target list was constructed.

Using that list, TriNet launched a combined direct mail and e-mail campaign driving the prospects to a personalize site (www.mytrinet.com/prospectname). The mailer consisted of a small box containing MP3-player earphones to highlight the value of the offer and catch attention. Response activity from the prospects initiated a notification to the appropriate rep to begin scheduling the meeting before interest waned.

The campaign was highly successful in moving prospective buyers to the final stage of their buying process. Conversions to meetings increased by more than 20% over previous quarters and sales directly attributed to the campaign have generated more than 10 times the cost of the campaign.

Based on this success, the campaign has been repurposed as a key marketing asset in TriNet’s nurturing process. Now, each potential buyer who becomes aware of TriNet through search, advertising, webinars, or whitepapers is entered into a nurturing campaign combining email and direct mail to build the case for TriNet’s solutions. When interest (as measured by the prospect’s digital body language) is detected 3 times, the incentive-based offer to take a meeting with a sales consultant is launched.

Read More...

Growing old

I've been rereading Tuesdays with Morrie. (which, if you haven't ever read, you should.) Its a great story told from the perspective of a student that is now long past school who reconnects with his professor to find out his professor is dying. The story is about how this student goes to see his professor every Tuesday and all the amazing things he learns from the teacher pre-death.

Actually when I typed that out it sounded quite depressing. And yes, its the kind of book you cry at and wonder if you'll ever be so wise...and its not really depressing so don't let that stop you from checking it out at your next library stop.

BUT...I got to the part of where Morrie attends the funeral of a friend. He says, "It was such a waste...all those nice things people said and Irv didn't get to hear any of it." So, Morrie decided to have a living funeral.

Would you ever want one of those?

Now, I have no idea when or how I will "go beyond the great divide..." and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that its suddenly in my sleep instead of a long terrible illness. But...at least if I knew I had an impending visit from the Grim ...I want to have my teeth in and my hair coifed. I'd like to put on my best duds and maybe some high heels? Can't hurt especially because you can get someone to wheel you around so your feet won't hurt. Gads...doesn't growing old sometimes just scare the pants off ya?

Ok...so back to living funerals.

Pro - You get to hear all those nice things people say about you.
Con - they are probably lying about some of it just so you feel good (but really - is that a bad thing?)

Pro - You get to throw one last party before kicking the bucket
Con - you're probably too tired to actually party.

Pro - You get to see all your friends that have been avoiding you because you are sick.
Con - Your friends HAVE to come see you...they can't exactly say they are busy when you invite them to a living funeral. So, while this is a con for them...its actually another Pro for you.

I think the pro's outweigh the cons. Yup. I'd have one. I think I'd want it near the ocean. I love the sound of water and being able to walk in the sand (or wheel through the sand) and see the seagulls and there are always children...and I think I'd want to arrive in style like on the back of an ATV or in a dunebuggy. Wouldn't that be fun? And we'd eat rice krispy treats which are good for old people because although they start out hard and crispy you can actually suck on them and eventually gum them if you don't have teeth. I'd have to have my other favorite treats like parmesan popcorn and brownies. NO VEGETABLES ALLOWED. Not for my last hurrah.

And like Gladys here...with her sense of humor and angel wings...


Come to think of it...why wait until I'm old and ready to "look toward the light?" We should have living funerals at age 40. They say thats when you head down the other side of the hill, right? Read More...

Assessing the Buyer's Toolkit - 10 examples

If, as B2B marketers, we're going to help buyers along in their buying process, the first thing we need to understand is how they buy. I wrote about Scoring the Stages of the Buying Process the other day, but the next step is to use that insight in order to help guide the buyer along.



To do this, we need to honestly assess our marketing assets in context of stages of the buying cycle. Each marketing asset helps a prospective buyer learn about your solution, but often in very different ways, from high level thought leadership when a buyer is in a market awareness/education phase, to education on capabilities when a buyer is in the vendor discovery phase, through to final validation of vendor selection.



Each organization's prospects' buying process is unique, and each marketing asset needs to be assessed in context of that buying process, but here are 10 examples I've discussed recently to give you a sense of the approach.


Case Studies: in a business information services company, used to show how various clients used the available information services in their businesses. As it was mainly used to spur ideas and educate the buyer on possibilities, these were used very early in the buying process. Education

Webinar: in a software company, a webinar discussing industry evolution and best practices with thought leaders in the field. Used early in the buying process to educate buyers and engage them in a nurturing process. Education

Book: in a software company, used to establish thought leadership, and to educate executives at potential prospects on market dynamics and the options available to them. Education

Seminar Invite: in a financial services company, used to build credibility, educate potential buyers on solutions, and begin engagement and nurturing process. Education/Discovery

Research Excerpt: in a financial information services company, used early in the buying process to establish credibility, and engage with new potential prospects or existing prospects who have disengaged. Education/Discovery


YouTube Video: in a software company, an entertaining viral video used to access potential prospects and bring them into a free trial process. Discovery

Tradeshow: in a hardware company, attendance at a tradeshow attended by potential buyers. Used to connect with buyers who are seeking solution vendors. Discovery

Free Trial: in a software company, used to allow the buyer to get a feel for product capabilities and experience. Depending on the buyer, the use of a free trial can vary between a quick evaluation to determine inclusion in a vendor list, to a deep evaluation to make a final decision. Discovery/Validation



ROI Calculator: in a software company used to assist in justifying a purchase to others within the organization and to ensure access to budget. Validation


Whitepaper: in a security services company, used late in the buying process to remove objections and answer key selection questions. Validation


The point is not that there is a right answer to where a webinar, a whitepaper, or a seminar invite fits in a buying process, it depends entirely on content. Each marketing organization must understand the buying process their buyers go through, and then objectively map each of their marketing assets to that process. By understanding what information is needed at what stage in the buying process, we can help guide our buyers through it. Read More...

I'm an addict...

I admit it. I'm addicted to Facebook. I went from being a MySpace junkie and grew up into the adult world of Facebook.

I've compiled more friends than I know what to do with and find myself posting comment after comment on their photos. I write on their wall... I snoop into their lives. I relish every minute of this new method to keep tabs on everyone...Whats next? Twitter? LinkedIn? How many different methods can I use to watch the real-time reality show called my "top 100?"

I have found people I haven't talked to for years. Friends that I knew in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. I do lament, however, that Zach VanMeter, my 3rd grade boyfriend and the one who taught me strip poker (a story for another day and get yer mind out of the gutter...we were 8 years old...) is not to be found. I'd love to see what he grew up to look like...whether he kept his wavy blond locks...who he chose (if he chose) to marry...is she anything like ME?

I mean, really, I was the start of his love career...we lasted on and off for both 3rd and 4th grade. - thats big time for gradeschool. During our off times I was BF/GF with his best friend David and Zack was BF/GF with my best friend Kristi. I even have a card he sent me when we moved away that lists all the ways he loved me...signed in his 4th grade scrawl.

But I digress...and digress even more as I realized I'd never even searched for David or Kristi on Facebook.

I'm back...David is not, but his SISTER is. And Kristi IS THERE. My excitement can hardly be contained. I moved away at age 10...that means its been 25 YEARS since I last spoke to her.

Is it weird to reconnect with a friend from 25 years ago? Will she remember me? Does she think as fondly of me as I do of her?

Do you see? Do you see what Facebook has started?

PS...I just found MR WOOD...my 4th grade teacher. He was the BEST. He kept rattlesnakes and boa constrictors in our classroom and (if you can believe it) we all vied for the opportunity to go snake and lizard hunting with him. I went once...he searched for snakes and it was my job to search for lizards to feed the snakes. Aaaaah...for the days way back when...can you imagine a teacher getting permission to do THAT now? Read More...

Flying Cars, Wall Flowers, and Red-headed Stepchildren; 3 Types of Marketing Challenges

One of the most common questions I get with marketing audiences is where in the funnel to focus on to get the best return on their investment. The answer depends on what your marketing challenge is. I categorize them into three basic types of challenge.



The Flying Car: You are able to solve a problem that most of the world is unaware can be solved. Given that they are unaware that a way of solving the problem exists, potential buyers continue to do things as they always have, even if inefficient, and are not looking for your solution.



The Wallflower: The problem that you solve is known, but you are not a vendor that comes to mind when prospective buyers are looking for vendor options.



The Red-Headed Stepchild: The problem you solve is known, and you are a vendor who is evaluated when potential buyers are looking for solutions, but you are not selected.





Obviously these categorizations are very broad, but most marketing organizations are able to categorize their main marketing challenge loosely as one of these three. Once you have done so, you can begin to focus in on marketing options that best tackle each of these problems.

If you are challenged with a Flying Car marketing issue, focusing on awareness and education efforts is key. Educating the market through news, press, and analysts, or directly as Exeros did are great initiatives. Similarly, viral marketing initiatives can succeed in getting the right message to the right audience if done well.

If the main challenge you face is the Wallflower marketing issue, focusing on search engine optimization, search engine marketing, webinars, and events to build awareness of your solution in that category. In tackling this challenge you are mainly looking to grow traffic and inquiries (with the right audience), so the techniques and metrics are well established.

If, however, you face a Red-Headed Stepchild issue, you must focus on efforts that build your credibility and reputation as a vendor and guide the prospective buyer to consider factors in their decision that highlight your strengths. You can do this through great lead nurturing, working with key bloggers and influencers, or even opening up your internal processes to your buying audience as Kadient did to build buyer trust.

By defining what type of marketing challenge you face, you allow your team to better focus on the techniques and communication vehicles that best tackle those challenges. Read More...

If Cruella came to stay...

This has been on my mind and since this is my place to put my thoughts...not just adorable pictures of Isabella, I thought I better just churn it out on paper before I exploded...

One of my dear stepmom (SM) friends is custodial to a 17 y/o boy that has gotten in trouble with the law. His mother lives in Europe and he rarely sees her. My SM friend and her husband decided (after doing all they felt was humanly possible for this boy) to invite the mom to come and help get stepson back in line and hopefully out of trouble with the law for good. So, she INVITED HER TO STAY AT HER HOUSE.

Maybe this isn't so crazy to some of you out there that have never dealt with stepparent life, but let me just say that my mouth dropped to the ground and I nearly fell over and the first expression out of my mouth was, "ARE YOU CRAZY?" There is no way in H.e. double hockeysticks that would ever happen.

I posed this question to John...What if Maddie lived with us and 10 years from now she was in trouble...would you invite Cruella to come stay at our house with us to help out and try and remedy the situation?

I hate to say it, but neither of us had any kind of heartfelt welcoming feelings even when pitched with the idea that MadMad might really be in trouble.

Well, I was humbled and a little ashamed of my vehement reaction when my SM friend said this, "She asked me, in a quiet moment, why I was doing this -- letting her come, inviting her into my house and into our lives. And I said, if the situation were reversed, I'd want the chance to be in my son's life, in whatever way I could, and that I'd hope be treated as well as I'm trying to treat her and she teared up. It was a really tender moment."

Not only was she nominated for the Stepmom Nobel Peace Prize by all my stepmom friends, but it made me stop and reconsider...first, there is little chance that we will ever be fully custodial to any of his kids, so I feel comfort in that fact, but what if...for some reason Bella were in trouble...what would I do or what would I want...who would I bring into my life if I thought it might help her?

Heaven forbid that it ever mean Cruella is the answer...I hate to admit it, but my resolve to be the bigger person would probably crumble beneath me.

This is what I count on my stepmom friends for - eye-opening, though provoking, character flaw identifying conversations. Read More...

Sybase: Process And Analysis Ecosystem

You would expect that Sybase, as a provider of some great analysis products, would have a good sense of how to analyze their marketing. They do, but under the hood, their great analytics is built upon a very well thought out approach to all aspects of the sales and marketing process. By focusing on the three main goals of sales effectiveness, campaign success, and coverage optimization, Sybase was able to optimize their overall marketing efforts, while providing rich insights into what was and was not working.

This case study is from Digital Body Language. Enjoy:

Sybase: Process And Analysis Ecosystem

As a billion-dollar enterprise software company, Sybase has a broad and complex sales and marketing ecosystem. For the Sybase marketing team, given that they a provider of some of the industry’s leading database and analytics products, and have highly analytical executives, this leads to a need to present a clear overview of what is happening within marketing to all levels of the organization.

To do this, the Sybase team focused on three key areas of analytics; sales effectiveness, campaign success, and coverage optimization. The first of these analytics efforts, sales effectiveness, became the focus of the bi-weekly pipeline review between sales and field marketing. For each region, a detailed review of marketing activity and prospect response would be performed for the key accounts in the region. Highlights of the prospects’ digital body language in accounts that had gone quiet would be used to trigger different account strategies for those accounts.

The second focus, campaign success, was a marketing-driven effort to analyze the effectiveness of campaigns against stated goals. Each campaign would be given different goals based on the call to action (ie, web seminar marketing campaigns would be analyzed on % registered whereas telemarketing campaigns would be analyzed on qualified leads captured). The campaigns were then analyzed against expected goals to understand where successes were being achieved and where ideas could be better shared. This analysis generally remained at the tactical level, as, given the length of the buying process in question, the macro analysis found marketing influence in over 90% of deals.

The third main focus, coverage optimization, was again done as a bi-weekly exercise. Top level marketing expenditure amounts were defined based on industry comparables, but within that overall framework, each expense item was coded by region and product. Comparing both marketing expenditures and prospect interest levels on a region and product grid allowed Sybase to identify areas in need of additional focus and reallocate investments quickly to the needed regions.

By leveraging its own analytics technology to better understand the digital body language of its prospects, Sybase was able to provide its sales team, its marketing team, and its executive team with a previously unavailable understanding of what was and was not working in the revenue funnel.

Read More...